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Narrative
Lissy enjoys her husband Gerd’s domestic decline
However, her joy is short-lived as her health rapidly deteriorates. Leo TOLSTOY already knew that every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. This is also clear to German film director Matthias GLASNER, who was awarded the Silver Bear at the BERLINALE 2024 for his new film DYING. But he can add a North German Protestant twist to the theme, which further intensifies the familial melancholy.Lissy Lunies (Corinna HARFOUCH) and her husband Gerd (Hans Uwe BAUER) live in a small North German town and are already severely marked by old age.
Both of them find it difficult to accept help
Their two children live far away and are hit hard by their own problems. Son Tom (Lars EIDINGER) lives in Berlin and is reasonably successful as a conductor, but is hopelessly entangled in private disputes. Daughter Ellen (Lilith STANGENBERG) lives in Hamburg and is so addicted to an alcohol-soaked lifestyle that she wakes up in Latvia after a night of drinking. It’s true!
A melancholic film from the German-speaking world!
Both are confronted in different ways with their parents’ ailments and their own inadequacies.The fact that the film doesn’t get boring during its three-hour running time is thanks to the fantastic cast, which also includes Anna BEDERKE, Robert GWISDEK, Saerom PARK, Saskia ROSENDAHL and Ronald ZEHRFELD. The German actors Corinna HARFOUCH (EUROPEAN FILM AWARD nomination 1989 for TREFFEN IN TRAVERS) and Hans Uwe BAUER were awarded the GERMAN FILM AWARD of the year 2024 for their terrific performances. The showdown at the coffee table between HARFOUCH and EIDINGER is one of the most impressive things one has seen in German cinema in recent years. The Lunies family is unhappy in their own way.
Yes and no
Haven’t we seen enough of that already? Of course, as a moviegoer, you ask yourself whether this is typically German (or at least northern German) or whether it would be possible in other cultures. But Matthias GLASNER aims high and takes inspiration from cinema greats such as Ingmar BERGMAN and Federico FELLINI. It is not for nothing that Tom Lunies prefers to watch the four-hour TV version of FANNY OCH ALEXANDER (1983) on Christmas Eve.
Of course, depressing German cinema is not everyone’s cup of tea
And the character of Robert GWISDEK (in real life HARFOUCH’s son) reminds me at least of Steiner played by Alain CUNY in LA DOLCE VITA (1959). But the story’s closeness to reality has a very special effect that you should definitely expose yourself to. Clearly recommended!
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